rather than a generic one.
What was it like? How did it differ from the generic rpg available today? Anyone played it?
Thanks :)
It's mostly the same without as many options. It's quite fast-moving once you understand how it works. It eliminates many rolls -- if your total skill level is equal to or greater than the difficulty value, you succeed. Otherwise, you have to roll a d10 to determine success - success is a roll of 11 or less, subtracting 2 from that value for each level of difficulty greater than your skill level. Then there are the usual modifiers. The Second edition is just more fleshed out with lots more options.
I'm actually giving away the original, authorized CORPS PDF for free with purchase of the CORPS Diceless softcover. But if you're looking for a universal system, go with CORPS Second Edition. Tom B is an aficionado on CORPS, so if he shows up, he can probably give you all the technical bits you want. In the meantime, is there anything specific about the system that you want to know?
I ran a whole bunch of CORPS (1st) when it came out. It's fast and fun, but still feels very crisp. The present day technology has aged, of course. And the conspiracies, as presented, seem a little dated. But frankly, they all still work as presented. In terms of dollars spent versus hours of gritty, mysterious adventure, it's one of the best bargains I've had gaming.
There's nothing in 1st edition CORPS that was removed for the universal 2nd edition, as far as I remember, apart from the conspiracy background stuff. All of the background material is available in the Active Exploits diceless version of CORPS, so you can still find it.
System-wise, you gain a lot with the 2nd edition of CORPS but don't lose anything. It's been cleaned up and had a lot added to it.
Thanks all, that was helpful.